Graphics Prob?

[K_Sea6]

Does anyone know whats causing black splotches on my screen during game? any body else run into this

[Gammel]

looks maybe like overheated or overclocked graphics card.
Can you post a screenshot?

[sergbuto]

Does anyone know whats causing black splotches on my screen during game? any body else run into this

Do you have an ATI graphic card? For some of them you can get that (not for newest though).

[K_Sea6]

I have an ATI Radeon 9250 128 MB, I tryed to send a screeni but I havn't mastered that yet. I've been playing with it like this for about a year now and just delt with it whilst modding my game now that I have it where I want it I've begun a mission and now it's bothering me so if there is a fix I sure would be pleased to know. Thank You

[bigboywooly]

I have same card and same problem

[Redwine]

I have graphic glitches too with an ATI card. :-?

I solve them underclocking a little bit the memory and core.

My card has 560/520 ... ireduce it to 550/510 and the problem "near" to disapears.

When the glitches apears, i simply press the "windows" key in my keyboard, and go for few seconds to my desktop, and when back to the sim, glitches goes off...

SH3 is the only game with this problem. :-?

[K_Sea6]

I'll try that redwine let you know how goes

[Redwine]

I'll try that redwine let you know how goes

Try and comment, i use ATITool 0.25 Beta 10 to do it.

:up:

[Reece]

Hi, I have an ATI X700 & no probs, before that a 9800 pro with no problems. However I am always concerned about overheating problems, so both these cars have better cooling fans installed, infact the X700 has the original on one side of the board and "Iceburg" fan on the other!:up:

[Redwine]

Hi, I have an ATI X700 & no probs, before that a 9800 pro with no problems. However I am always concerned about overheating problems, so both these cars have better cooling fans installed, infact the X700 has the original on one side of the board and "Iceburg" fan on the other!:up:

I soupose that initially, Reede, but the problem happens with very few use time, and normal temps, and happens in summer as in winter where the max temp reached is about 53 degrees.

In another way, no other game has glitches even with high temps near to 70 degrees.

Finally a reduction in core and mamory frecuency near to solve the problem.

In my opinion the problem is the ATI bad building quality. :down:

[K_Sea6]

So far I have tryed everything (1) tryed reclocking up and down. (2) used the ATITool.
(3) deleted the manufacturer drives and now have omega drives installed first with 2.6.12 and then with 3.24.64, and neither of them worked still have them blinkin blotches in my center veiw when horizen is equal and seems to be worse than before the black blothes are blinkin faster now. Anymore suggestions or do I just keep on tweeking (trial and error) till mabey I hit something. I'm about ready to reinstall manufacturer drvers because it wasn't near as bad as is now.

By the way the new avatar on the left shows exactly how I feel lol.

[K_Sea6]

How would I disable Temporal Anti-Aliasing?

[Redwine]

How would I disable Temporal Anti-Aliasing?

Did you tryed into the drivers panel ?

There.... are settings for Anti Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering.

[K_Sea6]

No I havn't tryed that, how to get into panal?

[Redwine]

No I havn't tryed that, how to get into panal?

Right Click on desktop > Properties > Configuration > Advanced Options > 3D > Personalized

You have there sliders for AA and AF :up:

[K_Sea6]

:down: No Joy, RedWine I messed with that ATITool a bit and definatly bumped my FPS way up so it wasn't a total loss, but i am at a loss with this graphics glitch mabey down the road some time upgrade card....... I don't know what else to do.

Only other thing how do I give a pic a URL so I can let you see what I see?

[Redwine]

:down: No Joy, RedWine I messed with that ATITool a bit and definatly bumped my FPS way up so it wasn't a total loss, but i am at a loss with this graphics glitch mabey down the road some time upgrade card....... I don't know what else to do.

Only other thing how do I give a pic a URL so I can let you see what I see?

Upload the pic here....

http://imageshack.us/

[Reece]

Try going back to a driver prior to .Net, I am using 5.6 Catalyst drivers.:yep:
Ok Redwine, you may now correct me!:rotfl: Just kidding, I have had mobo's, Hard drives & video cards die on me due to heat, but I must admid that summers over hear are a tad hotter!:D

[Petrus Borel]

Sorry to drag this old thread up to the surface again, but I have the exact same problem, and the same Radeon-card. I can't really wrap my head around the answers, though - did anyone sort it out? And exactly how do I "underclock" the memory and the core? :damn: I'm getting tired of these black ice-bergs suddenly appearing and disappearing ... I've been playing FS9 alot, and never run into anything like this ... :o

Well, thanks in advance!

[Redwine]

Sorry to drag this old thread up to the surface again, but I have the exact same problem, and the same Radeon-card. I can't really wrap my head around the answers, though - did anyone sort it out? And exactly how do I "underclock" the memory and the core? :damn: I'm getting tired of these black ice-bergs suddenly appearing and disappearing ... I've been playing FS9 alot, and never run into anything like this ... :o

Well, thanks in advance!
Not sure if your problem is the same... but you cant lose anything trying ATITool.
ATITool lets you to underclocks the core and memory.

http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

[Petrus Borel]

Thanks Redwine, I downloaded ATITool just now and will try it. :)

[Petrus Borel]

Just to be clear, I'm supposed to drag the core and memory "staples" down, right?:lost:

[Redwine]

Just to be clear, I'm supposed to drag the core and memory "staples" down, right?:lost:

Move the sliders down a little bit, and create a profile with the new values.
Be ware... do not overclock.... :up:

[Rolf Eschke]

Hi!
You mean this
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6861/sh320060110135004533wp.jpg [/URL][/IMG][/IMG]
The ATI Radeon 9250 could only Directx8.
No Chance to use it for this Game!
Greats Rolf

[Petrus Borel]

Hi Rolf, that's exactly what I mean. So I guess I'll have to accept the black icebergs until I get myself a new graph card ... Too bad.:dead:

But thanks for the help, both to you and Redwine.

[Rolf Eschke]

Hi Petrus Borel!
Did you see the In-Game Video of SH4 ?
I think most of us need a new Pc for SH4,but you can get lots of cheap AGP Cards for low Price.I bought a Radeon 9600Pro for about 40€.
Greats Rolf

[Petrus Borel]

Hi Rolf, yes I saw it! :) Looks really great.

So you use the Radeon 9600 PRO and have no problems with the game? That's great news! I will check the store in my neighbourhood to see if they got it ...

Thanks again,
P

[stabiz]

I dont think you will find any new 9600 Pro`s now. I had the 9600 Pro 256MB once, and its okay, nothing more. Try getting the nVidia 6600GT 256MB, its not much more expensive, but much better. (I had that one too, AGP)

[Petrus Borel]

Hi Stabiz, thanks for the suggestion, I will look into it. Another noob-question (as I am a real dumbkopf when it comes to computers) is - what hardware do I need to upgrade to get a better CPU? Or do I need to buy another computer alltogether? :oops:

By the way, I've been watching your films on youtube - great stuff!

All the best,
P

[Rolf Eschke]

Hi!
I will get this one at the Weekend
http://cgi.ebay.de/SAPPHIRE-X1600-PRO-512-MB-AGP-NEU_W0QQitemZ160059486819QQihZ006QQcategoryZ131752 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Greats Rolf

[3Jane]

For you card settings try these drivers, I use them with my 9800 Pro but they have drivers to cover most of the ATI range:
http://www.omegadrivers.net/ati.php

For cooling I would definitely recommend one of these for your card:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=192&code=013

Adding some ram coolers on your card is a good idea also, if you haven't them already. And look at the cooling on your northbridge chipset.

[stabiz]

Thanks, Rolf! :up:

Its much better than the one you have, so you will be pleased. But keep in mind that this card has DDR2 RAM. (Slower than the GDDR3) The reason I always recommend nVidia is the drivers. ATI is renowned for crappy drivers. But that card should have you running nice fps in SH3 (and other games).

To upgrade cpu you would have to get one that fits in your motherboard. (What socket is it?)

PS: I dont recommend changing cpu`s yourself the first time, its a bit more complictaed than changing graphics cards. (Many forget to remove old cooling paste and apply new, and starts crying when the cpu burns itself to crisp, for instance) (yes, I DID THAT!)

[Petrus Borel]

Well, how do I check "socket"? Damn, I'm in over my head here, in more ways than one ... :help:

[stabiz]

What is the name of your motherboard?

[Petrus Borel]

What is the name of your motherboard?

I don't know ... I bought the computer from a friend of a friend a couple of years ago. Is there anyway to check the name of the motherboard from the desktop?

[3Jane]

To find out everything which is in your computer download this piece of software, it will show you all the details of what is in there.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/SiSoftware-Sandra.shtml

A quick screen of mine to illustrate.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5583/screensissn2.jpg

[stabiz]

I dont know ...

Gizzmoe!

[Petrus Borel]

Thanks, 3Jane. Downloading it now, a free trial-version I think. I will post my findings soon! :dead:

[Petrus Borel]

Hello again,

according to the program I downloaded the processormodel is AmD Athlon MP and in the "package"-slot it says socket A PGA.

Does this tell you anything? :)

[3Jane]

Hello again,

according to the program I downloaded the processormodel is AmD Athlon MP and in the "package"-slot it says socket A PGA.

Does this tell you anything? :)

You should be able to check your CPU details here.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_756_809,00.html

http://www.cpuscorecard.com/cpuprices/aamp.htm

http://www.cpu-world.com/info/id/AMD-K7-identification.html

http://techreport.com/reviews/2001q4/athlonmp/index.x?pg=1

[Rolf Eschke]

Hi!
This Tool is easy to use,and shows all Informations about your CPU

cpu-z
http://www.speedyshare.com/151752794.html

My CPU
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/5764/1qp6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Greats rolf

[VipertheSniper]

OUCH, now that hurts the eyes, I can't see a damn thing on that pic. That theme is even worse than the windows high contrast one. Did you make that with some remote access tool, which only displays 8 colours?

[Safe-Keeper]

And how many recipients does the program send info on my PC to;)?

[Reece]

Most unusual texture problem as the shape is casting a shadow! are you sure the problem is the graphics card, if the image is an iceberg, only black, it could be corrupted texture files.:-? If it is the graphics card it will be something new to me!!

[bigboywooly]

Most unusual texture problem as the shape is casting a shadow! are you sure the problem is the graphics card, if the image is an iceberg, only black, it could be corrupted texture files.:-? If it is the graphics card it will be something new to me!!

Nope its the card
I get them too
Same card too :rotfl:

[3Jane]

So far I have tryed everything (1) tryed reclocking up and down. (2) used the ATITool.
(3) deleted the manufacturer drives and now have omega drives installed first with 2.6.12 and then with 3.24.64, and neither of them worked still have them blinkin blotches in my center veiw when horizen is equal and seems to be worse than before the black blothes are blinkin faster now. Anymore suggestions or do I just keep on tweeking (trial and error) till mabey I hit something. I'm about ready to reinstall manufacturer drvers because it wasn't near as bad as is now.

By the way the new avatar on the left shows exactly how I feel lol.
Have you tried (I imagine you probably have) the tool to find 'artifacts' in the Omega drivers. That and better cooling (Zalman) on my 9800 Pro got rid of them. I think the 'temporal anti - aliasing' is the same as the 'adaptive anti - aliasing' in the Omega drivers. If that's the case, it's just a matter of unmarking the box.

[Petrus Borel]

Most unusual texture problem as the shape is casting a shadow! are you sure the problem is the graphics card, if the image is an iceberg, only black, it could be corrupted texture files.:-? If it is the graphics card it will be something new to me!!

Nope its the card
I get them too
Same card too :rotfl:


Yeah, it's probably the card ... Well, well, I got to buy a new computer sometime come spring anyway, so I guess I'll just ignore the blinking blackbergs until then.:)

Thanks for the help, fellow kaleuns!

[macstu23]

I had this problem of the black triangular squares appearing on the horizon with my old card, a Radeon 9200....The problem seems to be with the 9200 series cards or earlier. This caused me great consternation trying to find the cause until I found a reference to it in, of all places, the Silent Hunter III readme file (readme EMEA EN.txt)
Quote...

6.4 Known problems..
'On ATI Radeon 8500,9000,9200 there are graphic artefacts consisting in missing triangles from the game sky.'

Seems the 9250 must have the same problem. I'm afraid there's not much you can do other than upgrade your graphics card. If it's any consolation, the Radeon 9600 I replaced it with works fine and only cost me £30 new....And it wont be long till Santa comes to visit, maybe you could write to him ;).

[Petrus Borel]

Macstu, thanks for the find! Obviously I should have searched the README before posting here ... :oops: Well, that's a lesson learnt. I will look around and see if I find a cheap card to keep me going until I buy that new computer.

[Reece]

Mighty weird, is it only the fact that the icebergs only are black or does this "black splotches" just appear out of the blue (with shadows to boot!)?:o I have 2 PC's one with 256mb ATI X700 & the other with 128mb 9800 Pro & both have AMD cpu's with VIA chipsets, neither have this problem, I have had cards that have had texture problems but they just flash on and off & get worse with temperature!:x
Does this problem manifest itself in other games?:huh:
Just curious!:)

[macstu23]

Mighty weird, is it only the fact that the icebergs only are black or does this "black splotches" just appear out of the blue (with shadows to boot!)?:o

They'd flash on and off randomly at a high rate, with reflections on the sea surface as well. I originally thought that objects in the far distance might be responsible. Could be hit or miss trying to get a screenshot of the effect. Sometimes it'd be clear for a while, but it got worse when I'd rotate the camera. Sometimes would also see some graphics tearing around the suns disc, like a part had been torn away and there was blue sky behind.

I had the same glitch in SH2 after I switched from a G-force to the Radeon 9200 card. For a while I thought it may have been a faulty card or motherboard till I found that reference in the SH3 readme, which only took me the best part of a year to find, so dont feel bad Petrus. Glad to be of service anyway.

One little graphics glitch I had with my Radeon 9200 that still recurs with my 9600 however, is the navigators map in the command room. Sometimes (but not always) it shows weird pixelated multi-colors instead of the normal nav map. Only happens now and again but I've learned to live with that. When I switch to the actual nav map view there's no problem. Oh well.

[Reece]

To me it doesn't appear to be the GPU as this would really cause problems & the texture faults wouldn't produce a shadow as this this is a function of the game engine to display a texture and give it a texture, just trying to work this out logically.:doh: I think it maybe an address line of the video cards ram (faulty ram) and may be caused by heat, does this problem show when computer is first turned on or does it take awhile?:-?
You can purchase small adhesive heatsinks in sets of eight for around AU $12, designed specifically for Video ram chips, this may fix the problem.
Another way to test (if it is a heat problem) is to purchase "Electronic freezant" in a spray can, designed to be sprayed on components while machine is running, this may help find the fault quickly! Good luck on what ever you decide to do!:up:

[Petrus Borel]

I think it's the graphic card, as two of us have the exactly same problem and none of my other games behave this way. Well, back to the iron monger! :p

[Commander Gizmo]

I have a Radeon x1600XT 256MB PCIE x16 video card and am experiencing the same problem. I never had this issue with my 9600XT 256MB AGP 8x back in the day, but did with the x600 256MB PCIE x16. All of the above were Sapphire built with custom coolers (80/120MM case fans and oversized processor heatsinks).

I am certain that the x1600XT is a DX9 card, and should be able to handle these textures. I have also noted that the GPU temp ranges from 51-67C and the artifacts are always there when viewing outside the sub.

Just a few details to help out.

[dcb]

Don't know about ATI, but I got a fix for a similar problem in Nvidia cards. Described here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=127154&page=2
starting from post 50 and downwards.
Maybe it works in ATIs as well.

[Madox58]

I run an ATI and the change to the scene.dat works perfectly.
I prefer the 8k and a setting of 1100 works great.
I tested by doing settings from 1025 to 1100 adding 25 each test.
1075 was close so I plan to run from there up in smaller steps
to see the results.